Mr James Gillespie > Kirkland & Ellis LLP > Washington DC, United States > Lawyer Profile
Kirkland & Ellis LLP Offices
1301 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C., 20004
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
United States
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Mr James Gillespie
Position
James Gillespie is a litigation partner in the Washington, D.C., office of Kirkland & Ellis. He joined Kirkland in 1991 and has been a partner since 1994. James has acted as lead trial and appellate counsel in a wide variety of complex commercial and class action litigation matters. The subject matter of these cases has included corporate governance & shareholder litigation, consumer class actions, insurance coverage disputes, ERISA, RICO, antitrust, and securities.
Career
James was law clerk to the Honorable George E. MacKinnon, U.S. Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit, from 1988 to 1989.
Education
University of Notre Dame Law School, J.D., 1988 (Editor, Notre Dame Law Review, 1987-1988); Grinnell College, B.A., 1985.
Lawyer Rankings
United States > Dispute resolution > Securities litigation: defense
Kirkland & Ellis LLP is known for its ‘tough and aggressive’ approach to litigation, and clients note the firm’s ‘deep subject matter expertise’. The firm is particularly active for clients in the private equity and alternative asset management sector, but its work also reflects companies from a broad range of industries, including retail, aviation and aeronautics, pharmaceuticals, energy, hospitality, and technology. Sandra Goldstein
in New York and Mark Filip in Chicago are standout partners. Goldstein acted for 3G in class and derivative actions concerning Kraft Heinz and its $15.4bn writedown of assets, as well the disclosure of an SEC investigation. The main hub of the practice is in New York, where up-and-coming partner Stefan Atkinson, who has played key role in the firm’s work on SPAC-related cases, and Matthew Solum stand out. Atkinson led the defense of a class action against Instructure. Joshua Rabinovitz and James Gillespie are the principal practitioners in Washington DC.
Lawyer Rankings
Top Tier Firm Rankings
- Media, technology and telecoms > Advertising and marketing: litigation
- Finance > Capital markets: high-yield debt offerings
- International trade and national security > CFIUS
- Antitrust > Civil litigation/class actions: defense
- Government > Government relations
- Intellectual property > Copyright
- Dispute resolution > Corporate investigations and white-collar criminal defense
- Labor and employment > Employee benefits, executive compensation and retirement plans: transactional
- Energy > Energy litigation: oil and gas
- Energy > Energy transactions: electric power
- Energy > Energy transactions: oil and gas
- Environment > Environment: transactional
- Dispute resolution > General commercial disputes
- Tax > International tax
- Dispute resolution > M&A litigation: defense
- M&A/corporate and commercial > M&A: large deals ($1bn+)
- Intellectual property > Patents: litigation (full coverage)
- M&A/corporate and commercial > Private equity buyouts: large deals ($500m+)
- Investment fund formation and management > Private equity funds (including venture capital)
- Real estate > Real estate
- Finance > Restructuring (including bankruptcy): corporate
- Dispute resolution > Securities litigation: defense
- Media, technology and telecoms > Technology transactions
- Intellectual property > Trade secrets (litigation and non-contentious matters)
- Intellectual property > Trademarks: litigation
- Tax > US taxes: non-contentious
Firm Rankings
- Finance > Capital markets: debt offerings
- Finance > Capital markets: equity offerings
- Antitrust > Cartel
- Energy > Energy regulation: electric power
- Antitrust > Merger control
- Investment fund formation and management > Mutual/registered/exchange-traded funds
- Media, technology and telecoms > Outsourcing
- Intellectual property > Patents: licensing
- Intellectual property > Patents: litigation (International Trade Commission)
- Dispute resolution > Product liability, mass tort and class action - defense: automotive/transport
- Dispute resolution > Product liability, mass tort and class action - defense: consumer products (including tobacco)
- Dispute resolution > Product liability, mass tort and class action - defense: pharmaceuticals and medical devices
- Dispute resolution > Product liability, mass tort and class action - defense: toxic tort
- Real estate > Real estate investment trusts (REITs)
- Energy > Renewable/alternative power
- Government > State attorneys general
- Finance > Structured finance: securitization
- Tax > US taxes: contentious
- Dispute resolution > E-discovery
- Environment > Environment: litigation
- Dispute resolution > Financial services litigation
- Insurance > Insurance: non-contentious
- Media, technology and telecoms > Media and entertainment: litigation
- Media, technology and telecoms > Media and entertainment: transactional
- Finance > Project finance
- Intellectual property > Trademarks: non-contentious (including prosecution, portfolio management and licensing)
- International trade and national security > Customs, export controls and economic sanctions
- Energy > Energy regulation: oil and gas
- Healthcare > Life sciences
- Dispute resolution > Leading trial lawyers
- Dispute resolution > Leading trial lawyers
- Dispute resolution > Leading trial lawyers
- Dispute resolution > Appellate: courts of appeals / Appellate: supreme courts (states and federal)
- Finance > Commercial lending
- M&A/corporate and commercial > Shareholder activism